In a principal aspect the present invention relates to a tool used to fasten items together, for example, to attach a strand of farm fence wire to a fence post by means of a metal clip.
Fencing may be attached to fence posts by fasteners such as staples, clips, ties, and the like. A common type of fence post is a steel T cross sectional shaped post which is designed to be driven into the soil or earth. Subsequently fencing wire, such as barbed wire, is attached to the T cross section fence post. Attachment may be effected in any of a number of ways. For example, metal ties may be utilized to attach the fence wire to the fence post. Another procedure is to clamp and form a U-shaped metal clip about the wire and post to thereby retain the fence wire tightly locked on to the post. The U-shaped metal clip may be crimped manually or by some tool to securely retain the fence wire attached to the steel fence post. When attaching a U-shaped metal clip to retain fence wire attached to a steel fence post, a worker may desire to use some type of tool that will provide a mechanical advantage necessary to bend and form the clip about the wire and post so that the clip will retain the fence wire on the post. The tool must be easy to manipulate and not overly bulky.
Additionally the clip must have a configuration which can be easily positioned and manipulated to fit around a length of fence wire as well as around at least a portion of the fence post to which the wire is to be attached. Further, the clip must be made of a material that maintains its configuration when it is formed about a fence post.
With these objectives, among others, in mind, the fence clip installation tool and associated clip of the present invention were developed.